Basic Needs
by ForASecondThereWe'dWon
Summary: A belated extension of Archie and Veronica's shower scene from S2E1. Rated M because... do I need to explain this? You remember, right? You saw Veronica drop her clothes and get in there, yes? Ok, I thought so. Glad we're on the same page.


**Author's Note:**

Thanks to fanfictionerhazel for prompting me to write about Archie and Veronica's shower scene from episode one of this season! This is only my second Varchie fic (the other is _Every Minute_ , if you're interested) and I hope you enjoy it. This will also be my last posting between now and Christmas, so I hope everyone enjoys their holidays! If you happen to have a little down time and are looking for inspiration, I invite you to participate in the Riverdale Holiday Challenge that I am co-running on the Riverdale Fanfiction Challenges forum. There are nine holiday-themed prompts to choose from and the deadline is December 31st.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy!

XO ForASecondThereWe'dWon

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The kissing was actually better than usual, though it would've been totally inappropriate to say so. Veronica had slipped out of her clothes and moved in on Archie's silhouette, projected on the shower curtain like shadow puppets for adults, as if there were no other choice. Not at all averse to a dramatic gesture, Veronica had known that surprising him with her naked body would provoke a reaction, but getting him hard fast hadn't been her principal motivation. Archie needed her―he _needed_ her―and that made everything simple. Under the near-scalding water, she felt his body react. Unfortunately, his mind seemed a little behind and that, despite the unspoken emotional connection she was feeling with him, was not so much Veronica's area of expertise. The rest of what she was currently feeling was pure gratitude that the waxing she'd had done before their first time was holding out. Standing nude in the bright light of the bathroom was far more rattling than diving into her bed with him in the dark.

Archie pulled her in delicately at first, cupping her elbows. The feel of their bare toes rubbing together nearly jittered an unsophisticated giggle out of her. As more of her skin was heated, both by being drawn into the showerhead's spray and by Archie's hands stroking up her arms and around the curve of her shoulders, Veronica shuddered. The muscles of her back tensed and her nipples rose, firm and pink like raspberries. He worked her mouth slowly with his own, nudging his nose into her cheek a little more on each forward surge of his lips. Tentatively, Veronica brought the hands she had pressed to his chest up to grip the back of his neck. Water ran through Archie's red hair and dribbled out from his hairline, wetting her slim fingers. She liked it. The last time she'd been anywhere near naked with a boy in a manmade water feature, Betty had poured maple syrup over his head and tried to drown him. Not exactly the kind of tip for creating a sensual atmosphere you'd read about in _Cosmo_.

Engrossed by the kissing and comfortably ensconced in a cloud of warm steam, Veronica almost forgot that there were other possibilities beyond what she and Archie were already doing―until his hands caressed down the length of her back and grabbed her backside. She was tugged forward and Archie made a gruff, hungry sound into her mouth, pressing his tongue to her lower lip. The noise gave her the urge to jump into his arms and wrap her legs around his waist, but Veronica told herself to calm the hell down. Sure they'd had sex before, but that had only been once, even if the tension that had been building between them prior to the act itself had sent Veronica marching responsibly to the doctor's to get a prescription for the pill weeks before. Meaning that they were technically still covered. It was nice that she didn't need to think too hard about the logistics while his tongue had started to do something fantastic in her mouth. Her foot squeaked across the floor of the shower as she snuck closer. Just because Veronica felt medically protected didn't mean that Archie would be inclined to take that step again though, despite him seeming to enjoy it so much the first time. For one thing, the circumstances were totally different. Archie's father had just been shot for crying out loud and Veronica still wasn't completely certain that he wanted her there… he grabbed her hips, turning her to press an irrefutable erection against her.

She stiffened, then he laid his cheek against hers and nudged her head to angle it, dropping his face away to wisp kisses down her neck. There was relaxed, and then there was shower-relaxed. Equally, there was drunk, and then there was hormone-drunk. As Veronica adjusted enough to Archie's presence that her eyes stopped darting around the moulded plastic of the shower, she felt _shower-relaxed_ and _hormone-drunk_ collide. Part of it could have been not having to look directly into his eyes (or have Archie look directly into hers), but suddenly, she was comfortable enough to lean back against him. To sling an arm up over her head and hook it behind his neck. To arch into the loose dome his fingers made over her breast when his hand came sliding up the slope of her waist. With a little hot water flowing between her spine and Archie's chest and a little self-convincing that the hammering of her heart was more thrill than nerves, Veronica went from bashful child in the women's aquatic centre changing room to Queen Bey in "Crazy in Love." And apparently, Archie was into it. When Veronica pushed her hips back and turned the motion into a full body roll, he moved his other hand up so that both her breasts were cupped firmly in his palms. She felt Archie's teeth scrape her neck as his fingertips pinched around her nipples and she sighed, lolling her head back against his chest. While one handful of fingers rubbed across her nipple, Archie smoothed his other hand away from her breast and down her stomach. He was holding her body to his with some pressure, positioning her better under the stream of water; she could feel her hair clinging to and sliding across his skin each time she rocked against him.

The hot water slicking her dark hair made Veronica close her eyes in contentment, but they widened seconds later. Archie's descending fingers had curved around between her legs, his hand cupping her tightly as he groaned into her hair. Trying to lessen the height difference, Veronica had raised herself up on her toes to grind against him… now she was wobbling, digging her fingers into Archie's forearms for support. Again, he went with it, getting a solid hold around her waist and, evidently undeterred, spreading his fingers to run the middle one delicately up and down her center. He stroked over her clit and Veronica, none too patient, angled her hips quickly in response, trying to draw out the feeling. She thought about turning around, giving a little back to him―she may not have been patient, but she was fair―but every time she went to change position, Archie's arm flexed around her in response and his fingers caressed more boldly.

Finally, she did get to face him, but only because he was the one who turned her. Archie grinned for a second, red hair plastered to his forehead, and it was hard to shake her head admonishingly―though she managed it. Without his hands on her, Veronica had a moment of clarity that told her maybe the appropriate thing to be doing was _talking_ to him. Unfortunately for someone (she very quickly couldn't remember who), those hands came right back to her, only now Archie was bending his knees a little in order to… in order to.… Veronica let out a sharp little pant as her boyfriend's fingers pushed inside her, curling and uncurling more rapidly than she had the current mental capacity to track. She forced her dazed eyes to focus on his face and felt her heart thump at the intense expression there. It was another reminder that maybe she should talk to him to find out what exactly _he_ was feeling, and she might have that time, had Archie not lost his balance. There was a brief, loud squeal between his feet and the floor of the shower and then he banged down on his knees in front of her. Veronica made her own squeal of distress, touching Archie's shoulders and cupping his face. He looked up at her, cheeks flushed from the heat of the water, and shifted his features into a look of amused annoyance, rubbing exaggeratedly at one of his knees.

"Ok," she said with finality, "I think that's the universe telling me that this is where I should stop this."

"The universe, huh?" Archie raised his eyebrows and laid his hands on the outside of her thighs, running his palms up to her hips.

The height he was at, the way he'd already been making her feel, the not-quite-familiar look in his eyes… Veronica couldn't help what she was thinking. The muscles between her legs gave a primal tug.

"Or the… the constraints of your shower, anyway." She laughed lightly, trying to get certain images out of her head. Trying, in particular, not to think of his tongue.

"Either way," Archie shrugged, "I think whatever it is must be working in your favour."

"Well," Veronica replied, swishing her wet hair back and rolling her eyes in an overstated show of flattery, "I mean, it might be a _little_ egotistic of me to claim that the universe caters to my every whim, but if it's _your_ suggestion, I wouldn't flat-out deny it."

"Because you wouldn't want to hurt my feelings?" he asked, smiling as he smoothed his hands over her hips.

"Naturally," she answered, trying to sound nonchalant. He just stared at her and let the fall of the water hitting the base of the shower fill the silence for a minute. "Archie," Veronica continued in a more serious tone, "I think I'm maybe being selfish. We could just dry off and talk. I should give you a chance to actually tell me what you need."

His thumbs traced her hip bones and he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the skin near her bellybutton.

"Archie," she said indulgently, pushing his hair back and scratching her nails lightly across his scalp.

Nose pressed against her, his face traveled lower, lower, lower.

"Ar―Archie?"

With another squeak against the shower floor, he spun Veronica 90° so that her back was pressed to the wall, the water coursing down the front of her body. Almost defiantly, Archie brought his mouth between her legs, sliding his hands down from her hips to grip the front of her thighs. With a cry, Veronica recognized the feeling of his tongue and grabbed for his shoulders with shaking hands. He sucked and probed at her, fondling her entrance and clit with lips and tongue, always forceful and never shy. Gazing down at Archie, Veronica found his pose humble and couldn't picture herself getting so readily to her knees in front of anyone. Sometime around when Veronica noticed she was gripping Archie's hair with both hands and made herself loosen her hold, she realized she'd been wrong. What they were doing wasn't delaying Archie from working through his emotions, it was helping him. _She_ was helping him, like she'd wanted. The best thing about it was that it wasn't so hard for her after all (massive understatement).

She'd seen the boy eat ribs, but, glancing down, knew she'd never seen him attack something so aggressively with his mouth. Archie never got lazy with his hands either. He was running his palm up the back of her leg when the action suddenly turned into him lifting that leg to fit the back of her knee to the bulge of muscle between his neck and shoulder, leaving her foot hanging, pointed, down his back. As his tongue taught Veronica the fine line between tingly numbness and desperate hyperawareness, Archie's large palm stroked greedily down the underside of her thigh. He reached up to grip her ass and pull her even more tightly against his mouth when, overcome by sensitivity, Veronica unconsciously tilted her hips away from him. The pure aggression seemed to have gone out of him, because he didn't fight her or attempt to drag her back. Instead, he took Veronica's hands and helped her down―which required a bit of effort with her legs as unsteady as they'd become. She thought it was lucky that Archie was so strong.

He sat back on his heels and settled her in his lap. Her legs felt floppy and disconnected as he spread them and pulled her slowly forward, but when his lips got near enough to kiss, Veronica pressed her mouth passionately to his and found again the voracious energy that had made her walk in on him showering in the first place. Closing her eyes to kiss Archie was fine because there was water running into them anyway. If the touch of his lips inspired a flood of enthusiasm, the feel of him lifting her and guiding her down on his dick inspired an ocean of it. Archie barely had the opportunity to find a safe place for his careful hands before Veronica wriggled into a position with good leverage and started to rise and fall on him, tipping her head back as she moaned. She nearly unbalanced him again in her eagerness and they grabbed at each other's arms, laughing, to keep from toppling over. Archie adjusted his legs beneath him. Veronica found that she could now touch the ground with her knees―and that it let her feel Archie even deeper inside her. His hands swept up and down her back, caressing her as her hips slammed down and her legs trembled. She rubbed her clit against him by accident and swore. The words sent his hands scrambling up between them to massage her breasts.

Tilting her head so the water wasn't right in her eyes, Veronica locked her gaze with Archie's. His mouth had dropped open and he was breathing hard like her, bumping his hips up from below to deliver striking thrusts―as clean and precise as the football passes she'd seen him throw. Even practically clawing towards orgasm, Archie was focused, working hard to take care of her while she was in his arms. Veronica saw that this wasn't someone she could fix with sympathy or a donation from her wardrobe, but it might be someone she could stand beside and learn to read a little better so that she could offer what she was able. As thoroughly as he seemed to work through his stages of grief, or whatever they were, Archie was obviously by no means _over_ what had happened. He'd want a conclusion, some sort of release…

Veronica grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him hard until climax forced her mouth open in a visceral groan. An echoing sound tore from between Archie's gritted teeth and he pulled her body to his, still rocking up into her for a few more moments. Raising a limp arm, Veronica slapped at the faucet until the water stopping coming down on them, then draped both arms around Archie's shoulders and just laid her forehead against his neck. He started to complain―something about getting cold and sitting on the hard floor of the shower―but Veronica covered his mouth with her hand to enforce a couple more minutes of peace. She wasn't ready to move yet and she figured Archie could use the stillness too.

"Are you ok?" Veronica asked finally, kissing his neck softly. Archie rested his chin on her shoulder and she felt his sigh breeze down her naked back.

"Not yet," he murmured, always so honest. She guessed he was counting on her thick New Yorker skin to prevent her taking it as any kind of insult. Which it did. Weirdly, Veronica thought his earnestness might be making her feel better than a more positive lie would have. She was _definitely_ changing her tastes since meeting these Riverdale kids.

"Anything that might make you feel better? That I can get for you right now," Veronica clarified, hugging her arms around him more securely. She didn't want him to answer with something like 'revenge.' It felt like what she would have said if she'd been through what Archie had and she _really_ didn't want to hear something so dark come from the lips of the most moral person she knew.

"A towel," he replied. Veronica lifted her head to stare at him, eyebrows scrunched together. They both burst out laughing.

"Yeah, alright," she relented. "That I can do."


End file.
